The long-running Trails sequence wants little introduction, as Falcom has been chipping away at this JRPG narrative for the higher a part of twenty years throughout quite a lot of arcs and views unfold over greater than a dozen interconnected video games. Whereas newcomers have historically been discouraged by the mountain of homework essential to ‘get it’, Trails By way of Dawn supplied a pleasant on-ramp for the sequence a few years in the past, kicking off a contemporary arc. After a considerably disappointing sequel, many hoped Falcom would proper the ship with Trails Past the Horizon and begin providing some payoffs for the various plot threads it’s arrange. Fortunately, Falcom has began to get issues transferring, and this entry total appears like an enchancment over Trails By way of Dawn II, although it isn’t with out its flaws.
Centred on the initiation of humanity’s first steps into house, that is narratively a continuation of the ‘Calvard arc’ that began with the primary Dawn recreation, however there’s additionally a superb cause why this wasn’t merely known as Trails By way of Dawn 3. Whereas Van is (debatably) the first character of this launch, there are additionally two parallel story routes starring Kevin and Rean, two protagonists from beforehand concluded arcs who nonetheless have a task to play within the all-encompassing storyline now approaching a grand conclusion that the technological developments of Zemurian house exploration are bringing into focus.
This three-route narrative strategy proves to be each a blessing and a curse. On the extra optimistic aspect, it’s fascinating checking in with these older characters to see how they’ve grown and altered ‘offscreen’ whereas the main target of the sequence shifted elsewhere. Plus, bringing some legacy characters into the fold demonstrates how Falcom has begun to unite the beforehand distinct casts within the run-up to a finale years within the making.
Then again, these extra solid members dilute the Calvard characters’ story a bit and contribute to turning what’s ostensibly a ‘payoff recreation’ into but extra table-setting for a later decision. Given the blended reception to Dawn II’s comparatively inconsequential storyline, it appears like a rug-pull in some ways in which we have now to maintain ready for issues to actually kick into gear.
Not all gamers will take into account this extra indulgent tempo a foul factor, however Trails Past the Horizon typically feels a little bit too snug in preserving the narrative in impartial, coasting in the direction of a finale and making plenty of guarantees that can hopefully be delivered on sooner or later.
Fight continues the hybrid battle system applied within the final two Dawn video games, mixing easy motion fight with a way more in-depth turn-based system. Once you first encounter enemies within the area, batting at them together with your weapon to chip their well being down may also construct a gauge for a extra highly effective stun assault which might combo properly into the turn-based mode.
This motion fight acts as a pleasant solution to clear up trash mobs or to melt up foes earlier than a correct battle begins, however it will probably crumble the longer you interact in it and realise how surface-level it tends to be. Falcom has performed a superb job of constructing it extra fascinating over time with the addition of issues like response assaults and fast arts, however the mechanics listed below are nonetheless comparatively sparse, significantly when in comparison with the considerably extra advanced turn-based mode.
When you transition into turn-based fight, issues play out extra akin to a typical Trails recreation. When it’s a celebration member’s flip, you have got quite a lot of assaults and lively abilities at their disposal, most of that are affected by character positioning. Not solely are you able to freely transfer characters round inside a hard and fast space earlier than taking an motion, however casting arts or crafts normally requires you to ‘intention’ an assault or space of impact to simply the proper spot to maximise passive buffs and what number of enemies get caught within the blast.
Amid all this, it’s vital to even be cognisant of how your potential actions have an effect on the continuing battle timeline. Not solely are there stat bonuses that you should use (or steal) when you’re cautious about the way you organise occasion actions within the flip order, however there are methods you may delay enemy actions to create extra openings to your occasion. Although there’s a studying curve to its administration, the timeline provides a enjoyable and dynamic layer to fight proceedings that retains you engaged not simply in what you’re doing, but additionally when you’re doing it.
This hybrid battle system wasn’t simply copy-and-pasted into this entry, nevertheless; Falcom has added much more mechanics within the type of ZOC, Awakening, and Shard Instructions.
ZOC acts as a means of slowing down time, which both permits you to get in much more hits on the sector or provides you an instantaneous additional flip in turn-based fight, whereas Awakening acts as a ‘beast mode’ that may supercharge your injury. Essentially the most fascinating of those are Shard Instructions, which in the end permit you to burn some increase factors in turn-based fights to activate party-wide buffs that may massively flip the tide of battle when you time them correctly.
The brand new mechanics don’t really feel like revolutionary new concepts and in the end lead to so much prettier results and greater numbers, nevertheless it’s good to see Falcom persevering with to iterate on the brand new fight. But when contemplating all of the totally different options collectively, it will probably typically really feel like there’s a bit an excessive amount of occurring, significantly for almost all of the common encounters you’ll end up in. All the identical, there’s heaps to sink your enamel into with the gameplay right here, and the system actually reveals its potential within the occasional powerful boss struggle that calls for you pull out all of the stops.
In terms of constructing your workforce, Trails Past the Horizon additionally borrows the Orbment system from earlier video games, whereby every character may be outfitted with numerous elemental crystals that grant them new arts, passives, and stat bonuses relying on the way you lay issues out.
Although there’s no specific class system right here, the way you select to configure a personality’s Orbment can considerably have an effect on the type of function they occupy in your occasion, and also you’re inspired to actually get into the weeds with experimenting with occasion compositions because the narrative unfolds. It could actually really feel a bit complicated at first, however playing around with it reveals plenty of depth for tailoring your occasion, and I feel it manages to strike a chic resolution to providing deep occasion customisation with out needlessly bogging you down in menus and comparisons.
Whereas the anticipated mountain of aspect quests remains to be current and accounted for, the Marchen Garten makes a return as a good portion of the non-compulsory content material. Right here, it’s been dubbed the ‘Grim Garten’ and gotten a creepy makeover to mirror a narrative occasion that led to its change. The construction largely follows its earlier look, whereby you place collectively a celebration and delve into procedurally generated dungeons in pursuit of contemporary rewards and distinctive story content material.
Not solely does this present a handy solution to put collectively characters who in any other case have little to no interplay with one another in the principle story, nevertheless it additionally has an fascinating function the place you accumulate and look at ‘recollections’ that fill in some actually crucial items of plot data.
Grim Garten doesn’t essentially provide a lot that you would be able to’t discover when enjoying by means of the remainder of the sport, nevertheless it’s a enjoyable aspect mode that strips away numerous fats and simply permits you to get to the meat of the thrilling fight. Plus, it may be a pleasant distraction from the sometimes glacial tempo of the principle narrative, the place you may kill a while and collect assets to energy up your workforce in the principle story quest.
So far as visuals are involved, this is likely one of the most stunning Trails video games but. The brand new engine that Falcom debuted with Trails into Dawn actually sings on the Change 2 {hardware}, holding to a largely secure 60fps whereas sustaining an impressively sharp picture high quality in each docked and handheld modes.
Most notably, the textual content is really readable on the Change 2 display this time round, clearing up an irksome challenge from the final couple of video games. Animation high quality has additionally gotten a pleasant increase this time round, with most of the greater assaults and humanities having a properly cinematic high quality to them that hides among the ‘Falcom jank’ that offers these video games a few of their appeal.
Conclusion
Trails Past the Horizon is one other stable new entry within the long-running sequence and appears like a agency step ahead, even when it’s not fairly as massive a step as some could have hoped. Although the story may be uneven, it’s buoyed by a robust and various solid that retains you invested and reminds you ways all of the work Falcom has been placing in through the years has in the end been pushing in the direction of one thing.
Couple its partaking (if typically gradual) narrative with polished graphics, deep character customisation, and a dynamic fight system, and also you’ve obtained an excellent and bold JRPG that particularly stands out in these comparatively early days of the Change 2 library. I’d give this one a robust suggestion to sequence followers, because it actually does really feel like a step up from Dawn II. Newcomers, although, will wish to give this one a cross till they’ve performed the earlier two Dawn video games, no less than.
